Boutique Guitar Amps

Well, I know that some of you reading this already probably own some kind of boutique guitar made by some master craftsman....but what about boutique guitar amps?  There are amny fidderent brands out there and it can get a bit confusing on which ones to check out.  My best advice is to try to play a bunch and pick the one that you like the sound of the most with your guitar and other gear.

A lot of times you will find that these types of amplifiers are hand wired and use the best possible components available.  The amp makers know exactly which speaks to pair with their amps (assuming it is a combo amp).

A lot of higher end shops in offer a small range of these boutique made guitar amps so trying them out can be an easy drive to the shop with your favorite guitar and start wailing.  However, if you don't have that option, I find the best place to check out is youtube.  There are many demo type videos out there that will give you an idea on what they sound like.  You will probably even find one that was your same guitar and the amp to give you an even better idea on tone.

I'm not sure if it is because I like tube amps better so I am not noticing solid state boutique amps but I seem to only see tube boutique amps.  And...well...who needs a crappy old solid state amp that sounds like junk anyway (my opinion!).  Tube amps are where it is at.

A couple of my favorite boutique amp brands have to be:

Dr. Z

Dr. Z come in a wide varioety of different combo and stack amps.  All tube.  For me, I would equate the Dr. Z amp to the perfect country music amplifier.  I'm not a country music fan by any means but I love country lead playing.  Insane stuff, and Dr. Z can bring out the best in tone for that type of guitar playing.

Bogner

What can I say, if it is good enought for Steve Vai, then it is good enough for anyone.  Bogner has an amazing array of different heads and combo amps for all diffeent types of music.  High gain crunch to the cleanest cleans and everything in between.

There are many many more different boutique guitar amp manufacturers.  If you are in the market for a new amp, you should definitely try out something in this range.  Sure, it is more expensive, but if you are serious about your boutique guitar you need to be serious about your amps as well.